The course will be organized in twelve lectures of two hours each, including tutorials. Two homework assignments will be provided during the course. The students will have to hand in the assignments within a week.

The main themes of the course are the implication of modern molecular and structural biology studies for molecular medicine and industrial biotechnology. Emphasis will be given on the molecular basis of cancer as an example of the link between molecular biology, biomedicine and drug design, as well as on the emerging efforts to exploit the wealth of knowledge in biochemistry to develop novel applications in chemical industry (i.e. biotransformations).

Modern RS and datastreams provide the synoptic, time-sequential views of the Earth that these research activities require. I propose here to offer a comprehensive course of instruction through which both science students as well as students in related disciplines in other departments at IUSS may benefit from the intellectual activity and technological resources currently available.